Recent reviews by MandatoryQuest

Its not perfect right now, but If the dev's continue this strong start this will be the definitive version of Frosthaven. There's plenty to play, but the lack of unlockable classes, and some outpost progression does mess with the game's proper campaign structure.

As this is a 'port' of a physical board game some criticisms I've seen are geared towards design, iconography, or game decisions made in the board game. Frosthaven majorly revised core graphical elements to be more icon heavy to allow easier translation, and support more complex abilities. Any criticisms of that are valid but it feels harsh to leave that blame at the Digital dev's door in my opinion, however the lack of a proper tutorial, tool tips, and on boarding currently needs to be addressed. There are plans to have a full intro in the final launch to hopefully help explain things better, but also more UI improvements are needed.

It's important to understand that this game was made to offer new challenging and more complex classes, address the wonky balance of 'haven in general, and expand on the outside scenario elements for experienced 'haven players. This does mean that classes can feel a bit weak by comparison or overly complex for their payoff, and scenarios are often much more complex. This is again another valid criticism of Frosthaven in general, but not one to punish the dev's with. Gloomhaven (or Jaws of the Lion) will still be the best place to jump in if you are new, this game does not replace that game, and it is not a direct sequel. You start from a lower overall power base, but have much more incremental ways to upgrade your character with items, perks, and of course levelling up. You really have to 'eek out your wins and loot early to get that ball rolling.

Direct comparisons to Gloomhaven and Frosthaven will often boil down to your personal favourite flavour of the 'haven games. Gloomhaven is fast, frantic, and full of broken combos, whereas Frosthaven is tactical, crunchy, with deeper progression. Until the full launch of FH with all the content you probably won't be able to pick which is your favourite.

Found myself fully sucked in to this one. Very addictive and satisfying process of upgrading your carrier. You definitely get chucked in the deep end and have to work things out for yourself, but in my opinion that's part of the fun of these types of games. Love the light hearted theme and the sci-fi references too.

Runs O.K currently on Steam Deck but it is pointer heavy so the controls are very fiddly. It also has some performance issues in the battle sequences out of the box too. Controller support is planned so fingers crossed it can get verified, but at the moment I couldn't fully recommend it on deck.

This is a landmark game in the RPG genre. Just as BG3 did last year, and Elden Ring the year before that. This shows what's possible with a passionate team and a clear vision for creating deep systems, living environments, and enchanting stories. The RPG genre has just levelled up again with KCD2.

A charming simple but fun turn based tactics game that doesnt out stay it's welcome. Perfect for Steam Deck.

Positives
- Music is incredible
- Art style is great (on a small screen)
- Combat is easy to grasp quickly and progress is fast so perfect for short sessions.
- Story keeps you engaged throughout and is quite dark and impactful at times.

Neturals
- Dialogue can be a bit cringe at times and took me out of it once or twice.
- Morality system is O.K but it never really got going for me or really felt like it mattered outside of making combat harder / more real time.

Negatives
- Combat is too easy. You can rinse and repeat the same tactics to win every fight pretty much. Just dodge and wait for your window of opportunity to attack.
- Shallow RPG mechanics. The tree is basic and you are limited with how many skills you can equip. I found the fact you had to use XP to unlock more slots also annoying as often you have to wait untill you can buy both the skill and the slot.
- Loads of items but they all do the same things ultimately. Not much equipable passive gear.
- Shops seemed mostly pointless outside of a few key items.

TLDR: A fun, engaging, sometimes moving, and simple tactics indie perfect for handheld sessions, or for those who fall in love with the art style. Not one for those looking for a challenge or deep RPG mechanics.

Steam Deck Review
Game looks great on the OLED although needed the gamma increased for comfortable viewing as it's a very dark game. Sometimes the different scenes are very zoomed out or the wide screen effect makes it a bit hard to spot collectibles and consumables, but this is infrequent. Generally though it works well out of the box if not 100% suited. I do recommend turning down the power usage though in the SD game settings as this game drains battery for no good reason. Controls are great.

The game story runs about 6-7 hours so perfect for a handheld, and it mostly keeps you engaged throughout. Combat does get a bit repetitive around 4-5 hours in, but the visuals kept me hooked throughout. If you like combat that's about timing parries, counters, and lining up combos this game will likely scratch that itch for you. I would recommend it generally to anyone who is interested in the theme, art style, or style of combat if you can get it at a good price.

I'm not usually big into cozy/chill games but this kept me interested all the way through. The game is constantly drip feeding you new things to manage or unlock which keeps it fresh, and the mixture of mini games and segments are a fun distraction. It's weakest flaw has to be the difficulty which is essentially non-existent, but I don't think this type of game wants to be hard. Just grab a controller, slump back in your seat, and have just 1 more dive...

TLDR: The core of this game is magnificent and a joy to play despite some of its flaws.

Playing solo and the game is fun, challenging, and rewarding. Play on Apprentice difficulty to begin with TRUST ME. You get the same Lore rewards regardless and it will help you make quick inroads into the real game which IMO starts in Chapter 2. You can always go back and play on higher difficulties for the challenge later. I see lots of reviews/complaints about UI and some minor bugs, and I will say this game is gloriously vague with mechanics/terms at times which can be frustrating, and a clean up of the UI would massively improve that. There is also some simple fixes like overlapping windows that need addressing. Any bugs I've encountered have not been game breaking or seriously effected my enjoyment though. Most of the complaints you read from others are true and valid, but perhaps a bit harsh. If you don't mind using the encyclopedia in game, or a bit of trial and error, you'll get a grasp of the game and UI pretty quick. Hopefully they patch the game and make it less vague and add tool tips on mouse over for conditions, traits, and skills. I can't speak for multiplayer as I haven't tried it, but it looks like it has its own bugs and challenges right now. Multiplayer would also certainly add some difficulty due to less party co-ordination in an already tough game, so again swallow your pride and play on apprentice at least to begin with.

Positives
- Tense tactical head to head battles
- Art and characters are great
- Minimum bugs
- Fun building armies and finding combos
- Painting feature is unique and very detailed

Negatives
- Not enough variety yet
- Season pass progress is slooooow
- Camera overly restrictive
- PvP Turn timer very short when you are new
- Games can stall out sometimes which is a bit of an anticlimax

Overall I am kind of hooked on this game right now. Its a bunch of fun although not without its flaws. My main concern right now is will this die on the vine with such little content here. I collected all the available minis in under 4 hours and found a strong army I like. The season progress is painfully slow and all just cosmetic anyway, so it seems like without new content on the regular this gem could be forgotten. I always get worried when these types of game go the early access route because of this.

Positives
- It's Unmatched!
- Clear U.I
- Good tutorial
- Includes rule book and undo (some) actions

Negatives
- Very simple port (feels like a deluxe TTS mod)
- U.I bugs/freezes mid action
- Multiplayer freezes / drop outs with no reconnect feature on live games.
- Music / Sound very average.
- Lack of characters at launch

This is a pretty bare bones port even down to using just scans of the plastic minis on the flat original boards, which I think was a missed opportunity. This could of been a very dynamic game with character animations and a 3D board to help this game really ascend or pop from its original board game form. I guess budget dictated what was possible here or in scope. I found the music repetitive and uninteresting so I muted it very quickly too, but I don't think that really matters too much.

The online right now (launch day +1) is in a bad state and I have only managed to fully complete 2 of 6 online games so far. This has been caused by U.I freezes causing locked game states, and sometimes just infinite loading screens. This is an EA title, but when the game is purely about multiplayer battles with nothing but an O.K set of A.I. otherwise, it will have to be a not recommend from me.

This game is so meta I wouldn't be surprised if this review appears in the game somehow.